CDT’s U.S. Newsletter — February 2021


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FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER  

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Closing the Knowledge Gap at the Intersection of Disinformation, Race, and Gender

From voter suppression campaigns to attacks undermining female politicians, many disinformation campaigns are designed to exploit existing forms of discrimination and target people based on race and gender identity.

Civil society groups are engaging in important work ([link removed]) to understand ([link removed]) and address the impacts of mis- and disinformation on communities of color and across gender identity. However, there is still not enough scholarship ([link removed]) among many traditional research organizations like universities and think tanks looking at patterns within groups and the impacts of online disinformation on women, LGBTQIA+ communities, people of color, and other voices that are less prominent in mainstream political discourse in the U.S.

The stakes are high. That's why the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is releasing a new report ([link removed]) identifying key research opportunities, including important unresolved questions around the intersections of online disinformation, race, and gender. We call for research that produces comprehensive evidence and closes this knowledge gap, with the goal of equipping the policy community to develop solutions that mitigate the harm disinformation inflicts on U.S. democratic institutions.

The report ([link removed]) presents and builds upon some of the ideas discussed at a CDT convening ([link removed]) of an interdisciplinary and international group of experts about research on this issue. It also makes recommendations for how to tackle the related methodological and technical problems that researchers and others face in addressing these topics.

The evidence called for in the report will help us understand the possible effects of policy and technical proposals to address mis- and disinformation, and how they might affect the communities they aim to protect.

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In Case You Missed It

CDT and the eHealth Initiative, with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, partnered to develop a consumer privacy framework to better protect health data. Our proposed Consumer Privacy Framework for Health Data ([link removed]) establishes critically needed protections around the collection, disclosure, and use of health data, much of which is unregulated under existing laws. The framework reflects the feedback of experts and leaders from healthcare systems, technology companies, academia, and organizations advocating for privacy, consumer, and civil rights. Next, CDT plans to build on this work with a deeper focus on inequity in the collection and use of health data.

In a new joint report, CDT and the Alliance for Securing Democracy are calling on President Biden to issue an executive order establishing a bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Resilience and Trust ([link removed]). We suggest this Commission focus on the following three topics, at a minimum: best practices for bolstering trust in elections; best practices for countering false information from foreign and domestic actors that undermines confidence in election integrity; and how and whether to make permanent some of the administrative and policy changes state and local officials made in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

CDT submitted comments ([link removed]) to the Facebook Oversight Board in response to its most high-profile case yet: the suspension of former President Donald Trump's account following the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. The comments cover the dynamics ([link removed]) of account suspension, particularly in the context of high-ranking political figures that have outsized potential to influence public sentiment and to incite violence. We also identify considerations around account suspension for prominent users, and suggest that Facebook should develop — and communicate to users — a set of criteria that explain the circumstances in which it will consider imposing indefinite and permanent suspensions. 

As governments expand their use of technology and data, it is critical to a thriving democracy that they do so in ways that affirm individual privacy, respect civil rights, foster inclusive participatory systems, promote transparent and accountable oversight, and advance just social structures within the broader community. To help realize a vision for civic technology that affirms these values, CDT is launching ([link removed]) the new Equity in Civic Technology Project. Through this work, we will provide informed analysis and thoughtful advocacy, with the goal of advancing the responsible and equitable use of data and technology while centering the rights of individuals.

CDT in the Press

In the New York Daily News, CDT's Will Adler and the Association for Securing Democracy's David Levine have an op-ed discussing the need for a presidential commission on elections. Read the piece here ([link removed]).

Alexandra Givens was quoted by Mashable ([link removed]) on tech policy priorities for the Biden administration: "America's global leadership on AI needs to be a leadership focused not just on innovation, but on ethical and responsible use. We need the new administration to come in with that as a top priority — to give clear guidance about the risk of  discriminatory effects, [and] to think in a more coherent way about what accountability and transparency look like."

Avery Gardiner spoke with the Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) about the current conversation about content moderation: "There's such an interest right now in figuring out how to handle content moderation issues online," she said. "The more we can have open dialogue about how social media companies make these decisions, the better off we all are to decide where we want to consume news and other information."

Emma Llansó told CBS News ([link removed]) about the importance of Facebook's referral to Donald Trump's account suspension to its Oversight Board: "It's important for the Board's decision to be independent and for them to consider not only what Facebook says to them but what all of the various comments that they will get from the public. This is far from just an issue we've encountered in the U.S., and it's going to be important for the Board to understand beyond the U.S. context, how are these policies on this kind of issue of high-ranking political figures saying inflammatory things and maybe even inciting offline violence playing out in a lot of different contexts around the world."

CDT "in Person"

CDT is pleased to announce the Global Encryption Coalition ([link removed])'s webinar on "Government Hacking". In recent months, governments' technical capabilities to search mobile devices have come under greater scrutiny. Newly published research from academics and organizations like Upturn have cast new light on how governments may be gaining access to mobile devices and its consequences. The American Civil Liberties Union has also filed a lawsuit demanding that the FBI disclose records of its "technological capabilities for retrieving information from locked electronic devices." Across the Atlantic, Europol has poured resources into government hacking with the launch of its new "Decryption Platform." Join experts from academia and civil society in discussion of government hacking, its consequences for security and privacy, and its influence on the debate around end-to-end encryption. You can learn more and register here ([link removed]).

As part of CDT's ongoing Tech Tales series ([link removed]), we are hosting a panel webinar on student privacy protection and responsible edtech use ([link removed]), featuring perspectives from across the education system. As schools rely on technology and data to provide instruction amidst COVID-19, they continue to grapple with issues of privacy protection, responsible technology use, and digital equity. Our panelists will share their experiences navigating these issues in their daily lives as parents, school administrators, and education stakeholders, discussing how a collaborative approach to school technology helps ensure that its benefits can be realized for students safely and equitably. You can learn more and register here ([link removed]).

Have you listened to the latest episodes of our Tech Talks podcast? Join host Jamal Magby and the Director of CDT Europe, Iverna McGowan, for a discussion on the Digital Services Act ([link removed]) and what it could mean for digital and human rights across the globe. Then, join Jamal and Elizabeth Laird, the Director of CDT's new Equity in Civic Technology ([link removed]) project, for a discussion on this program and how it builds on the work that was started with CDT's Student Privacy Project.

Partner Spotlight

CDT is a proud member of the Civil Rights, Privacy, and Technology Table, a network of more than 30 organizations collaborating to lead successful national and regional campaigns and set the digital agenda of civil rights. Most recently, the Table has released a civil rights, privacy, and technology oversight agenda ([link removed]) for the 117th Congress, laying out high-priority areas of concern to help guide Congress in ensuring that technology serves all people in the United States, rather than facilitating discrimination or reinforcing existing inequities.

The agenda builds on the Table's October 2020 Civil Rights Principles for the Era of Big Data ([link removed]), which addresses current threats to civil rights and serve as a proactive guide for designing and using technology in ways that affirmatively promote justice and equity. You can learn more about the Table and the work they do here ([link removed]).

Staff SpotlightTim Hoagland, Deputy Director of Communications, Design & Digital How long have you been working in digital rights? Always been fascinated by the issues, but I started working at CDT six and a half years ago (!). 

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? There's countless numbers of them — I've been lucky enough to have played a (very small) part in some really important policy moments, but I've also been able to directly contribute by shaping what our policy looks and feels like (shepherding projects like our brand redesign in 2016 and our website redesign in 2019). I know some of this work will far outlast my tenure at CDT, and that feels special. :D

What is your fandom? All things basketball — all endeavors labeled "creative" — zero things fantasy fiction (gasp, I know). 

What is the most recent cultural activity you've been to? One of my few social activities these days are the incredible (virtual) events put on by D.C.'s local chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. The latest I'm attending is on "Ethically Navigating the Realities of Accessibility vs. Compliance" — design geekery meets important social lense! 

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